Over the past few years, I have noticed a growing phenomena that is unique to the cellphone age, wherein everyone has a cellphone that they carry with them at all times. You could not have witnessed the phenomena I am about to describe 10-20 years ago because cellphones simply were not mainstream enough nor cheap enough nor compact enough.

What I am about to describe is something I am dubbing “The Cellphone Ignore”. It has its roots in social psychology, but is a relatively new outbreak that effects people young and old.

The ignore in action

Imagine you are sitting in a crowded place where there are groups of people chatting and others sitting alone. The best example of this will be the lobby to some building where people are coming and going, or a food court at a mall. The place I view this most is the lobby of the building I take a majority of my classes at because there is often individuals walking alone or people in groups. A key aspect to recognizing this is that there are groups of people segregated from one another and, intermixed throughout the area, people walking or sitting alone.

As you look around this area, pay careful attention to the people who are alone. You will notice that many of them, especially the ones walking, will bust out their cellphones intermittently to check it for something and put it away quickly. This is amplified if these individuals get the sense that they are being watched by others or perhaps just have the perception that they are being watched by others (but really, no one is paying any attention to them).

They are not looking at texts because they almost never respond. They are not ignoring a phone call because they will check it several times… perhaps in the course of a 5-10 minute observation they check it upwards of 10 to 20 times. They are not checking the time, because who checks the time every 45 seconds?

The truth is, these people are alone and the only thing they can do to distract themselves is to look into their cellphone in false-hopes that someone (anyone) has sent them a message or will try to call them at that exact moment.

Social psychology

As I learn more about psychology, I realize how social psych describes the basis for this behavior very clearly. There are two key aspects that one learns in social psych that lend an explaination for this behavior.

1. Individuals are social beings

Even the most introverted people (short of being a sociopath) crave social attention. When you are walking through an area by yourself and no one around knows you and you know no one around, you need to satisfy your want for social interaction. Your cellphone provides a direct line to social interaction at any time of day, with any one of your friends or family. Thus, when in a situation where you crave social interaction but none is to be had, you reach for the cellphone to see if anyone has brought it to you by means of text (that you might have missed) or call (that you might have missed).

2. Individuals find comfort in what is familiar

When people are walking alone, they are uncomfortable. Even in familiar surroundings on the same walk they do every day. We gain a sense of comfort in passing the same people every day, seeing the same buildings, and knowing that everything is in order. However, the people that pay visits to buildings beyond the normal schedule are unfamiliar to us.

To balance this, when walking by these people, we need to distract ourselves with something that is familiar. Hence, we reach for the cellphone. The cellphone distracts us from the perception that people are watching us or that we are alone and people may view this as socially unacceptable. Either way, the cellphone provides an outlet to this discomfort.

Beyond the unfamiliar

While still rooted in social psych, I think that one more step that adds to The Cellphone Ignore is peoples general tendency to want to display their importance to the world. If you are walking through a crowded place by yourself, you may attempt to draw attention to yourself through your cellphone.

The major goals likely being: attract a partner through a show of monetary gain (owning a cellphone gives off the perception that you can afford such a luxury), dis-way a partner through ignorance (if there are characters around you do not want to be involved with, you can feign being too busy by looking into your cell – this is where the heart of my naming of this phenomena comes into play), or a show of popularity (show others that you are a popular person and that your cellphone is always busy and you have many friends and partners).

Conclusion

I think that phenomena like The Cellphone Ignore are extremely detrimental to our society. They discourage interactions between people because having your cellphone out is just as discouraging as walking with a friend. Humans will, classically, be comfortable with approaching a single person to meet them but that comfort GREATLY decreases when you add one or more peoples. A singular person will almost never approach a group of three or more on their own.

So, the cellphone is acting as a detriment to the ever-expanding social bonds that people are striving to create. My point here is that, if you are walking through an area, resist the urge to reach for your cellphone when you feel uncomfortable; because every time you do, you are greatly hurting your chances of meeting someone new.